For many South Africans, getting a qualification is about building a better future. It means having a chance at a good job, earning a decent salary and perhaps being the first person in the family to graduate. These are dreams worth pursuing. But somewhere between choosing a qualification and preparing for graduation, there is a conversation we don’t have often enough.
Are we doing enough to prepare students for life beyond the classroom? A qualification can give someone the knowledge to enter a profession. It doesn’t necessarily teach them how to handle disappointment, work with difficult people, manage their emotions or make decisions when life doesn’t go according to plan.
Yet these are the situations graduates will face, regardless of what they studied. We spend years developing students’ academic abilities, but we don’t always give the same attention to their personal growth. And perhaps that’s something higher education needs to reconsider.
There’s more to education than being intelligent
Think about someone who performs exceptionally well academically but struggles with confidence. They know their subject, understand the theory and can answer almost any examination question. But when they’re asked to lead a team, resolve a disagreement or speak in front of colleagues, they find themselves out of their depth.
It’s not because they aren’t capable. They simply haven’t had enough opportunities to develop those parts of themselves. This is why education needs to pay attention to more than intellectual ability.
At Regenesys Education, this thinking forms part of what we call Personal Mastery. In simple terms, it’s about helping students understand themselves better. What motivates them? What holds them back? How do they respond to pressure? What values guide their decisions?
These are questions people often only begin asking after they’ve entered the workplace or experienced something difficult. But why should we wait until then? The years spent studying offer an opportunity to develop self-awareness, emotional intelligence and a stronger sense of purpose alongside academic knowledge.
After all, students don’t leave their personal challenges at the classroom door. They bring their worries, ambitions, insecurities and responsibilities with them. Education needs to recognise the person behind the student number.
Getting a job is one thing. Building a career is another
Most students want to know what opportunities their qualification will create. It’s a reasonable question, especially when studying requires such a significant investment of time and money. But employers aren’t only interested in what someone knows.
They also notice how people communicate, how they treat colleagues, whether they take responsibility for their work and how they respond when something goes wrong. You can have an impressive CV and still struggle to build meaningful professional relationships. This is where professional development becomes important.
At Regenesys, the concept of a Professional Quotient encourages students to think about the professional reputation they are building. It’s about understanding your values, presenting yourself with confidence and recognising that your behaviour speaks just as loudly as your qualifications.
These are things that can be developed while studying, rather than leaving graduates to figure them out once they start working. We should want students to leave university knowing their subjects, but also knowing how to carry themselves in the world.
Students need someone to notice they’re struggling
There’s another side of higher education we don’t discuss enough. We talk a great deal about getting students to enrol. We celebrate new intakes and graduation ceremonies. But what happens during the years in between?
A student might miss an assignment because they’re juggling work and family responsibilities. Another might be struggling financially. Someone else could be dealing with an illness or a personal problem they haven’t told anyone about. These things happen every day and while academic institutions cannot solve every problem in a student’s life, they can make it easier for students to ask for help.
At Regenesys, students have access to dedicated support teams that can assist with academic queries and help them keep track of important dates, including assignments and examinations.
It may sound like a small thing to remind someone about an upcoming assessment. But when you’re working full-time, studying in the evenings and trying to manage everything else, that reminder can matter.
Student support shouldn’t begin only when someone is at risk of failing. It should be part of their experience from the beginning. The same applies to wellbeing. Students need opportunities to look after their physical and mental health, which is why initiatives such as Healthi form part of the broader Regenesys environment. We cannot talk about helping students succeed while overlooking the pressures they face outside their studies.
What kind of future are we helping students build?
We often encourage young people to think about where they want to be in five or ten years. Usually, the answers involve a job, a house, financial independence or a successful business. But perhaps we should encourage them to think a little further.
What kind of colleague do they want to be? What sort of leader would they like to become? How will they use what they’ve learnt to improve the lives of people around them? A successful career is something to be proud of. So is raising a family, supporting a community, mentoring someone or starting a business that creates employment.
None of these achievements are measured by an examination mark and yet education can play an important role in preparing people for them. This is especially relevant in South Africa, where we need graduates who can contribute to economic growth while understanding the realities of the communities they come from.
We need people who can create value without losing sight of their responsibility towards others and the environment. That requires more than technical knowledge. It requires judgement, empathy and an understanding of the consequences of our decisions.
What are we promising our students
When someone commits three or four years of their life to studying, they’re placing considerable trust in an institution. They trust that the time, money and effort will lead somewhere worthwhile. Naturally, they expect a recognised qualification and the knowledge to pursue their chosen career. Those expectations should remain central to higher education and as institutions, we also have an opportunity to offer something more.
We can help students discover strengths they didn’t know they had, become more confident in their abilities and develop the personal and professional skills they’ll need long after graduation. This doesn’t mean every student will leave knowing exactly what they want from life. Most of us are still figuring that out, even years into our careers.
It means giving them a stronger foundation from which to make those decisions. Perhaps the question we should be asking prospective students is not only what they want to study, but who they hope to become during their time with us. Because years from now, they may not remember every lecture or examination they wrote but they will remember the confidence they gained, the habits they developed, the people who supported them and the way they learnt to see themselves could stay with them for the rest of their lives and surely, that is worth making room for in higher education.
